Stop and Smell the Fennel

We arrived at El Capitan State Beach Campground, which is 17 miles west of Santa Barbara off highway 101, at 4 pm on Wednesday, August 10 for our first tent camping experience. Our site, like most at El Capitan, was large and was surrounded by trees and shrubs so we really got a sense of privacy and our own space. After setting up two tents and drinking a well-deserved Hop Ottin' IPA we walked down to the beach. It was 5 pm, the sun was still shining but sat low in the sky to our west. The activities that we saw on that gorgeous stretch of beach were: beach combing, body surfing, boogie boarding, birdwatching, cocktail drinking, dinner eating, frisbee throwing, kayaking, knitting, sand sculpting, smashball playing, sun bathing and surfing all on approximately 1 mile of sand. Walking east (feels like south, but here the coast is south facing, not west facing) the beach got more crowded because this was the day use area. After soaking up some much needed sun and inhaling the beach air, we headed back to our campsite to get dinner ready.

I never thought camping would be an experience for me to write about in my blog, because frankly my options for food prep and storage were limited. But, while walking through the campground to and from the beach I spied several stands of foeniculum vulgare, fennel. For anyone who has experienced the drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, or Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, you know that the perennial herb fennel grows rampant along Southern California's coastal areas. Not only is this fennel that grows wild beautiful, it is also so flavorful! In the summer you can use the fronds and then in the late fall or winter the seeds. Wild fennel is different from the bulbed fennel you can buy in the store or at the farmer's market. If your bulbed fennel still has some fronds attached they will not be as flavorful or fragrant as the fronds of wild fennel. However, the wild fennel will not ever grow a bulb. So wild fennel is the reason you get to read alittle about my family's camping experience at the beautiful and highly recommended El Capitan State Beach and Campground.

Cooking with foraged fennel:
The meal planning for this camping trip was pretty simple. Cold cereal and pan toast for breakfast along with fresh fruit, sandwiches and more fruit for lunch. For dinner on Wednesday we planned grilled brautwurst and hot dogs and Thursday grilled top sirloin steaks. To go with brauts, I caramelized a (presliced) purple onion and added a handful of the delicate, fern-like fronds, cooking just to soften them. To go along with steaks the next night, I melted a 1/2 a stick of butter and added the finely chopped fronds to pour over the lightly seasoned sirloins. Our dinners would have been delicious without the fennel, but an opportunity to forage is an opportunity to feast!

My Soup Kitchen

It's been unfortunate to neglect my writing. I have so many entries written in my head I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write. So here I am at work, writing my blog. Shame on me! I've never done this before - but today, due to events related to the bureacracy of my daughter's preschool (which is run by the same administration as my employer) I'm working on as-needed basis today. I told Irene (my coworker) she's okay with it, she's a great supporter of sticking it to "the man" which is what I'm doing - albeit passively.

So I've written (in my head) entries about making and eating flour tortillas, ravioli, chocolate cheesecake, making and gifting cookies at Christmas-time, growing and canning tomatoes (I ordered Roma seeds this season,)a fantasy about working for Alice Waters, and the joy of Rose and Marla's eggs. But what I've been making and thinking about a lot more is soups. Soups are so economical and delicious. With soup you can take the same basic ingredients, and create hundreds of different combinations. This week we had tortilla soup on Monday, and vegetable, bacon and bean soup (needs a different name huh?) on Thursday. I think my family is less enthusiastic about my obsession with the creations that come out of the beautiful black Le Creuset pot that holds court on our stove.(It's too gorgeous to put in a cupboard!) But with a budget of $200 each week to feed breakfast, lunch and dinner to seven people, soup is always a smart choice. Deciding on a garnish is also an important part of soup making. I always like to have a kind of cheese or herb that will float on the soup adding another texture and flavor to the bowl. Paired with a crusty loaf of bread, dinner is served. I consider my kitchen creations inventive and delicious - I once combined white beans with a tomato broth and floated a spoonful of pesto on top. I thought it was brilliant, but my 3 daughters were not impressed. Their favorite soup is sopa de fideo. It consists of a light tomato broth and thin fideo noodles. For them simplicity is bliss.

About soup:
The basis for my soups are usually a mix of carrots and onions, leeks, or shallots and a bit of salt. I add this to olive oil or rendered bacon fat - reserving the bacon to add in later. After softening them for a few minutes I add 2 or 3 cloves of pressed garlic. At this point I would add small cubes of potatoes if I was using them and let the outside begin to soften, brown a bit, but watch the garlic. Then comes the liquid. I usually have chicken stock in my freezer. When we grill or roast a whole chicken we save the neck and innards - you know the heart, kidneys and I think there is a liver in there. I throw these in the freezer and use them and any combination of celery, onions, herbs to make chicken stock when I need it. If I don't have homemade stock I use water. I can't bring myself to pay for canned or boxed broth. The flavor is just not right - I pass. The process of slowly cooking the vegetables will create a broth that doesn't necessarily need anything. After adding the liquid, stir and turn up the heat. Before it comes to a boil taste to see if you need more salt. When it comes to a boil turn it down to keep it at a low simmer. After about 20 minutes at a simmer I would add precooked beans or leftover chicken or any greens that I'm using. I would add the bacon back in at this time. This is a blueprint of how I make soup in my kitchen. Walk through the soup aisle of the grocery store for ideas, but then go home and start your on your own creative, soup project in your kitchen.

The Pit-falls of Dreams

The smell of baking fruit fills the air. In 5 minutes I can pull my peach and cherry crisp out of the oven and serve it up to my family with vanilla ice cream. A delicious end to a day that involved my family eating a marginally produced, preservative filled food product. My mom is visiting and she can't stand for anyone to say the words, "I'm hungry" I try to discourage the words being said by simply asking if they are truly hungry, or do they just want to eat. If the insist they are truly hungry, then I offer a piece of fruit, (maybe an aprium?) some cheese, or nuts, but my mom orders a pizza. If you've read my previous post you know I don't dislike pizza, it's just the kind of pizza that I'd rather not have my family eating. Back to the crisp. In Blythe, California where I'm from, peaches are in season. My parents brought us not only a bag of peaches from Peach Blossom Ranch, but 3 jars of peach jelly that my mom and aunt made - mmm! I was in Blythe at the beginning of April and went to Peach Blossom Ranch in the hopes that harvesting may be happening earlier this year, but to my disappointment Lee Lindsay, Peach Blossom proprietor, informed us that the peaches were likely to come off around mother's day. I knew that. I was just hoping for a peach! About a month ago I had a dream, I was at the farmer's market and all the farmer's stalls were filled with baskets of stone fruits. Peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, apricots - the gorgeous shades of oranges, reds, and violets were like a heated sunset, but instead of looking skyward my eyes darted around trying to see what different varieties were available and who had tastings. I remember waking up and being sad, because I knew that I still had a couple more months before stone fruits became part of my family's fruit choices. Last Saturday it happened, one vendor had apriums. The smallish, lightly fuzzed, peach colored fruit with a ruddy blush tastes like a juicy apricot. I bought 2 pounds and ate one (piece not pound) on the way home. Dreams do come true! The following week I bought another 2 pounds and 1/2 pound of cherries even though they didn't enter my subconscious the way their larger pitted relatives did. I'm looking forward to this Saturday - I know more will come.

About Crisps:
A crisp is a baked fruit dessert with a sweet crispy topping. I've made a few different recipes with different combinations of fruit. The topping also varies between recipes, some calling for oatmeal or nuts. I recently found a recipe where the topping is simply flour, white sugar, brown sugar, a bit of cinnamon, salt, and butter. What ever the fruit is all you really need to do is slice it and toss it with some sugar - the amount will depend upon how sweet your fruit is - lemon zest, and flour. The fruit goes into the baking dish and gets covered with the topping. If you like more crunch to your dessert you should add chopped nuts or oatmeal, but I really liked the simple, cake-like effect of just the flour, sugars and butter. You could always omit or add any spices that pair with the fruit. Nutmeg in the topping adds depth to a plum, or dark berry crisp. You should also try grilling it - I hope you aren't picturing slice of fruit sliding through a grill! Use a metal pan, and cover the crisp with foil. My husband usually sets it off to the side while he's grilling the main course, then moves in to the center of the grill to finish cooking while we eat dinner. It's nice, especially in the summer so we don't have to turn on the oven. Summer's around the corner and tastes delicious.

Pizzadoughlust

As a working mother of four I thought that writing was the last thing I'd be doing, but here I am! I wanted to share with anyone who wants to know, what it's like for me to feed my family of seven, me, my husband, my brother (17) my son (16) and 3 daughters (9, 4, and 1).

I think I started writing this first entry on Friday, April 23, 2010 the day of my daughter's school's Multicultural Day. Trying to figure out how my husband (who had a 3 o'clock meeting) or I could pick up our 2 younger daughters, in time for one of us to make it to my 9 year old daughter's performance was starting involve time travel, so I decided to leave work early. I left work at 12 o'clock, picked up from the sitter, and made it to the performance at 1:30. Did I mention this was a Friday? So being able to see my 3 youngest offspring earlier than usual, which involved seeing one of them dance the "Hoedown Throwdown" was not foremost in my mind. Pervading my thoughts was - dinner. On Fridays we make pizza. During the school year we buy pizza dough from Trader Joe's, and during holiday breaks and in the summer when I don't work during the day, I make dough. Getting off work early, and in turn getting home early would allow me to make dough! I was thrilled at this opportunity! So as each grade level presented their practiced routines - the best being my daughter's line dance - my thoughts were (insert guilt here) of flour to yeast ratios, and white whole wheat flour versus all purpose...

About pizza dough:
I have been trying to perfect my pizza dough recipe over the past couple years. Two favorites recipes I combine, one from MS Baking Handbook and the other from William Sonoma Kid's Baking, results in a dough that is consistently tender, with a nice chew when baked, holding up well to heavier toppings. I think dissolving the yeast, with a little sugar, in half of the water that you will use, and let that sit for at least 10 minutes, works the best. I also add honey, something I read in a Ina Garten recipe. I love the flavor it gives the dough. I stir the flour, olive oil, salt and honey together first in a big bowl with a wooden spoon - this is where I begin to center myself. The smell of flour alone creates in me an inexplicable calm. Then the yeast mixture followed by additional water all stirred until a shaggy dough forms. I dump it out and add more flour until it is kneadable. No I don't think that's a word either. Once it's smooth, I've tried different things here - on the counter covered with the bowl to rise for an hour, or back in the bowl covered with a towel for an hour - not sure which works better yet. Then I divide the dough in to 4 or 6 pieces depending on how much I made and let those sit on the counter covered with a towel (the thin flour sack kind) for at least 15 minutes. It's a beautiful, meditative process that I think because, unlike making a loaf of bread, where it is meant to be tasted alone to see how good it is, pizza dough is always tasted with other elements so the pressure for perfection is not really there. Pressure stinks - making pizza dough does not.